Pillars of Sand
by Cloakofinsanity
Summary: A few ideas that were bouncing around in my head and came out on "paper." Basically this is a lot of BAMF Merlin mixed in with AUs and the likes. Please read, they are not very long.
1. Chapter 1

AN: So, it's been a while, and I couldn't decide on a prompt. Therefore I decided to write a scene from a bunch of them into one-shots. Perfect! So have fun reading my ideas.

_I own nothing_

_And Warning: This turned into a pretty depressing one-shot sorry. Mentions of torture but nothing gruesome. Psychological torture._

**Number 1 - Not Caring**

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Sobs mingled irritatingly with thegrating sound of the clock. The tiny splash of tears hitting the ground echoed through the room as so many did at the same time. His hands muffled the annoying mantra, but still it bullied itself into his eardrums. Over and over again.

Tick. Sob. Tick. Splash. Tick. Sob. Splash. Tick. Tick. Tick. His mouth was moving. He supposed the words were being formed. Air was tickling his throat and his mouth was moving. Obvious. But nothing. No sound. No words could be heard. Only the consuming mantra of clock sounds and crying. Over and over and over again. It was going to make him go crazy eventually. Raving and insane. That's his legacy, and imprint on life for a few years only to turning into Uther. How ironic.

Tick. Tick. Sob. Splash. Nononono. Tick tick. Tick Tick. Splash. Sob. Splash. Sob. Tick Tick Tick. The sobs were familiar yet foreign. A sob he thought he should know so well, yet he had never heard it. It was ridiculous really. He wouldn't even rise from his ball of covered ears in the corner. He wouldn't even investigate the person. No, no the friend. It had to be a friend. How else would he know them? Tick. Tick. _Shut up shut up shut up shut up shut up. _

It was getting brighter. He could probably see into the room now, if only he would open his eyes. But for now he would try and limit his sight to the pink light filtering through his eyelids. If only, if only. He _knew _the sound. He could hear the sobs in every place he had ever been, but there was no face. No name. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.

Nothing huh. Just like him. Falling into the unknowing world of forgotteness. After all, why else would he still be here for if not for forgetfulness? The light has grown darker and lighter so many times he lost count, so someone must have come by now.

_If only they had decided you were worth it. _Nononono. They would come. They would help him. He knew it. He could feel it in his just, filling him like a hopeful, warm stew. But hope never got anyone anywhere.

Tick. Screams. Sob. Tick. Splash. Nononono. Scream. Sob. Sob. Sob. Sob. Splash... Tick. Sobs had evolved into screams, shattering whatever thought he had left. Horrendous screams that he was sure even Morgana had flinched during. They called out his name, begging him to stop hurting them. He tried to open his mouth, to tell them that he wasn't. That he meant no harm. He hadn't even moved. But his voice still did not echo like he wanted it to. It merely stayed by its owner as if protecting like a guard dog. But that didn't matter anyway. There was no way to help them now. Now, after all he had done for them, he was helpless. Helpless to hear Gwen sob and scream at him. Helpless to hear Gwaine shun him as he bellowed in pain. Helpless to hear Mother whisper how disappointed she was in me in my ear. How he had forsaken her, left her to live with the wolves alone. After all that she had done for him. How he was not worth having the blood of Balinor or any other decent person in the world. His blood was only good for criminals and savages, for they are the only ones who would look him in the eye.

Merlin had never shouted at his mother. Never. Not until that day. Not until she had insulted everything that he had hoped could be true. Not until the only person that mattered ripped it all away. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing mattered once his new life was gone. Nothing mattered inside his farm boy life of tending crops and damaging property.

But that didn't matter now.

Screaming filled the days, only to be followed by the harsh thwack of leather hitting flesh. They screamed out his name. Gwen, Freya, Arthur, Gwaine, Lancelot, Gaius, Leon, Percival, Elyan, Mordred, Morgana, Balinor, Will. Everyone. They cursed him. They promised to burn him. Will went into excruciating detail as to what was going to happen to him once he got his hands on him. Arthur promised to tie him high on the pyre, so he burned slower. Merlin shouted his innocence. Shouted until his voice grew hoarse and sobs echoed through the room.

Sob. Sob. Sob.

It took a few days to realize that the screams and sobs had dissolved into nothing. It hadn't been his fault, hunger and thirst was making him dizzy and sleepy. But he should have noticed. He should have noticed a lot of things. Millions of things. How Morgana wasn't the evil one here. How he had been hurting more than helping. How he had ruined the routine of Camelot with his innocence. How he had ruined it all, and now he was here in this tower. In this godforsaken tower that his captors had put him in. Who? Who? Who?

No answer. But that didn't surprise him anymore.

He supposed he would just have to find out.

They found him days later. In the burning wreckage of his own doing. He had only been aiming for the door, but maybe if he had cared he would have only hit the door. He could have gotten out. He could have found out who had done this to him. He could have found help for himself. He could have known that they were all fine. He could have. But he simply didn't care enough anymore.

**AN: I don't really know what happened. That was quite depressing, but it kind of evolved into itself from the first sentence. I probably could have helped it, but I honestly couldn't bother. **


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: **Hey... Sorry about not updating. I've been wanting to, but this week I've been forgetting to sleep this week, so most of my time has been set to catching up to that. Sorry...

P.S. All the "spells" are in Galician, so yeah.

**Number 2**

**Summary: **BAMF! Merlin. Heck yeah

Their feet slammed down on the uneven pavers that Morgana's entire castle seemed to be made of. The warning whispers echoed, thundering into anyones' eardrums; they were sure of that. Merlin hovered behind the knights, desperately hoping that somehow they wouldn't run into trouble just this once. But when has fate ever granted them a free pass?

Heels clicked devilishly from behind the corner. Arthur turned to the rest of the group, giving some hand signals that really no one understood anymore, and burst through the nearest door. The rest of the group hurried in behind him

_Did he really need hand signals for that?_

Water dribbled down through the eroding walls, splashing the once magnificent seats over and over again. Smashed chandeliers swung helplessly as their crystals flung themselves to the floor.

"Not a word from any of you," Arthur muttered, dutifully acknowledging his cliche decision.

"Whatever you say Princess. You know, it seems that all royalty will find the throne room somehow."

"How else are they going to blow up their egos?"

Arthur groaned helplessly from the front of the group. "You two do realize whose throne room we are in right?"

Merlin's eyes shifted worriedly to Gwaine's and back again. "Morgana's, right? Are you sure you aren't getting brain damage?"

The sound of gritting teeth practically echoed. "Yes Morgana's. You know the girl who wants to kill us. The girl who -"

"Is right here you morons. You know it's not nice to talk about someone as if they are not there."

The door slammed behind her. Morgana's black hair sprawled behind her like a cape, shadowing all that she passed. Gliding into her throne, their idiotic queen hung her pale hands in the closest form of regret she could feel with a Pendragon nearby.

The elder Pendragon tilted her head quizzically. "You do know that it's impolite to not kneel in front of your betters."

Merlin's jaw clenched, somehow restraining himself from bursting from whatever comeback that would probably get them all killed.

Too bad that Percival had no such restrictions.

"So why aren't you kneeling?"

Two seconds.

A hiss of breath echoed from her mouth. Water froze to the surrounding stone. A thud echoed somewhere out in the hallway.

For right now, no one was sure where Percy landed.

One second.

"Because of this." The words were hissed with such rapid succession that Merlin had to run them through his head over and over, before he could understand them. In that time, the population in the room had gone from six to two hundred sixty seven, some spilling out into the hallway.

"Listen brother, and listen well." Ice edged into her voice, striking a chord of fear in the poor manservant that hovered in the back. "I will not handle insolence in my castle, especially in my presence. You know it's really a pity." The world held its breath. "I was just starting to like you. But as we all well know, all good things must come to an end."

What happened next, none of the knights could say for sure. One second Arthur was starting to draw his sword. The next, his blood stood out harshly from the distant gray of the place.

Or at least it should have. It really should have. And he had really tried to not make a scene.

Honestly he tried.

But this was between Morgana and Arthur for almost a moment, and he had already lost. So Merlin opened his mouth.

"_Pare" _A single word. One word that could stop all of his problems, but only for a moment. Arthur's quick descent into the stone slammed to an immediate halt, slowly drifting to a landing. Morgana's wretched hand followed his command, drawing to an eerily similar halt. Her poor, sad little henchmen rushed around them like a sea, detaining anyone and everyone in sight. One, with burning brown eyes and fingernail scratches across his face, hurriedly tied Merlin's hands behind his hands.

It's cute sometimes, how they take comfort in these things.

After all, it's just rope.

"You shouldn't have done that Morgana." The queen's head bounced to attention at those words, a large smirk crossing her face.

"And who are you to tell me that? A depressing manservant who can barely put one foot in front of the other?"He never quite realized how utterly _annoying _that smirk was. It was like being followed by every gnat in the entire world.

Now annoying him might not be the best choice in the moment, probably due to the fact that he was still kind of pissed off from her kidnapping him.

But that hardly matters anyway.

"No. Fear the person who can do this." Long, clumsy fingers made their way through the quickly dissolving rope to click together somewhat meaningfully. _Snap. Clump. _The latter sounds sent a small shiver down his spine.

You just never get used to being able to drop 267 people with a click of your fingers.

Flash of gold. His feet left the floor, accompanied by _helpful _shouts from Leon and Gwaine. Hopefully Elyan would have shouted, or at least laugh a little, had he been conscious at this point. Poor boy had been interrogated for the last week. By little Morgie. Anyone in those circumstances would be recovery napping by now.

Distantly, he felt the sharp points of whatever they used to make these castles way back when drive into his back, but he really couldn't care much about that at this point.

That woman over there had mentally tortured his friend, flung himself into a wall, threw Percival who-knows-where, and almost killed Arthur, again. Honestly it was starting to get repetitive.

"They say not to poke the bear Morgana." Merlin could feel the gold fill his veins, powering the echo in his voice. "You just threw the bear into the frickin wall."

Biting her lip, Morgie threw her hand out once again. Most likely to throw him into a wall. Again.

So many sighs.

She is getting really repetitive. Like really?

"- moronic manservant."

_Oh crap. She was talking. Oops._

"Merlin, if I die, I expect some ale on my pyre." Gwaine shouted happily over the silent room. _Oh.. Battle to the death, that's what this is. How about no? I'm tired over here. _

"Sure Gwaine. But I don't think you'll need it." Golden power flooded his senses, overpowering every notion of self preservation that had been holding him back. "I'm really not that moronic Morgie." Merlin's hands came up, as if he were drawing a bow, pulled the imaginary string back, and let it fly. The flaming arrow materialized half way through its flight, smashing into the High Priestess, burning her clothes, hair, and tearing a gaping hole in her abdomen. "You really should have just stopped while you were ahead." A long smirk drew across his face, taking in the moment of Morgana gasping to the ground and finally to her death many minutes later.

_Snap. _The glistening walls of Camelot loomed behind Merlin, for he had wronged its rules.

"Merlin..." The gasp echoed through his ears, but he did not turn to face it. Ever again.


End file.
